


Polearms for Fun and Profit!

by HSavinien



Series: Nonfiction: Medieval Weapon Rants and Bullet-pointed Infodumps [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Genre: Animal Death, Battle, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Nonfiction, Spears, War, polearms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2019-09-13 11:32:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16891794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HSavinien/pseuds/HSavinien
Summary: By request, basic info on various kinds of polearms and their uses.





	Polearms for Fun and Profit!

Some folks had been asking about [polearms](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmedieval.stormthecastle.com%2Farmorypages%2Fmedieval-polearms.htm&t=ZmRhY2M2Y2IxNjU1MDM3OTk4ZWRhODRiZjJmNDE3ZTk0OWI1MDdhZixvRE1DZmxscw%3D%3D&b=t%3AAbM2GQelIABrceH_cxJ4Yw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhsavinien.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F110008592813%2Fpolearms&m=0) (spears, pikes, glaives, halberds, naginata, [great-axes](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myarmoury.com%2Ffeature_spot_poleaxe.html&t=Njg1ZjVmNzQyMDVjZGUwNWIyNzYxNWVkMzU3YWI2YWQwYzRjZGYzYixvRE1DZmxscw%3D%3D&b=t%3AAbM2GQelIABrceH_cxJ4Yw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhsavinien.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F110008592813%2Fpolearms&m=0), long poles with pointy/slashy bits on the end, etc.).  Unfortunately, as noted under [the illustration here](http://iamfireandiamsteel.tumblr.com/post/18087799503/polearms-the-knowledge-on-polearms-even-just), there are a whacking fuckton of designs and very inconsistent naming. 

Some things that they are good for:

  * Smashing through or piercing armor.  Many polearms have a hammer head on the end - often pointed or pronged.  Get that puppy moving and you’ll break things and people.
  * Hunting large game.  Actually really good for this.  If you’ve got a spear (with a cross-guard!) you can take down a wild pig.  If you have a spear without a cross-guard, that fucker’s gonna impale itself running up the shaft just to slash you to ribbons before it dies.  Also good for other predators like large cats and wolves.  Basically anything that you want out of mauling-you distance.
  * Defending a small opening or anything that your attackers have to come at you from a constrained space and can’t get more than a couple people through side-by-side.  Whether you’re guarding a bridge or a broken door, it’s good to have a means to discourage your enemy from rushing you.  If they know they’ll be impaling themselves doing it before they can even get in range to hit back, that’s a pretty big discouragement.  The fewer people that can make it through at a time, the harder it is to convince someone to charge in and sacrifice themselves to break your hold on it. 
  * Killing someone else before they can get in range.  If your opponent has a sword and you have a glaive or naginata, your best plan is to stay six or so feet away and slash them to pieces without them being able to touch you.  If you’re quick and have good footwork, this is not unreasonable.
  * Killing cavalry (and cavalry charges).  One of the least fun things to happen to any foot soldier is to get trompled all over by some rich asshole- *cough* excuse me, some knight on a huge freaking warhorse that is specifically trained to kick people in the head.  Polearms are very useful for killing horses.  A formation of pikemen basically creates a moveable hedgehog that’s deadly for horses to run into.  The pikes are angled down at the right height to catch any horse in the vicinity straight in the chest.
  * Opening up a shieldwall.  When you’ve got your shieldbearers all lined up prettily with their shields overlapping and strengthening each other, they can resist a lot of damage.  Several polearms have hooks on them to grab onto shields and pull them out so that someone else can stab them in the face.  Alternatively, you can snag people’s armor and pull them off-balance or knock them down to get trampled.



While the polearms most people think about are around nine feet long, they could range from five to sixteen. 

Fighters using a polearm would also want to be carrying a dagger or other short weapon of some sort to stab things that got too close, trapped their weapon, or otherwise disarmed them.

Do check out the links given, there’s some great info.


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